This invention relates to a camping tent supported by arch structures. In particular, the invention relates to a tent having an outer wall supported by pairs of arches, with the pairs of arches separated by a ridge member.
Tents or shelters are made in many shapes and run the range from lightweight tents, capable of being packed by one man to relatively cumbersome large tents requiring vehicle transport. The particular tent described herein in three embodiments is of a size and weight such that a single man may pack it in a conventional backpack or the like to provide remote shelter of upwards of 4-6 individuals in one embodiment.
A tent should provide effective shelter in all climates. The tent must also allow for ventilation for the users. Although tent walls (which hereafter includes the roof or cover portion) can be made moisture proof, it may be appropriate to permit the tent structure to "breathe". This provides a degree of water repellency without condensate forming on the inner surface. A waterproof outer cover, or what is known as a "fly" may then be added to the structure for use in snow or rain conditions to effectively waterproof the tent. Nevertheless some conventional tent structures may accumulate condensate on the inner side of the outer wall or fly if ventilation between the two walls is not provided.
One problem, which is present in the design and structure of all tent structures, is stability under high wind conditions. Rudimentary tents generally utilize pegs at each corner and a plurality of guy lines which may be tensioned to outlying pegs or the like in order to provide structural integrity. Guy lines, running to outlying pegs suffer the obvious disadvantage of coming loose, either by the tent working in the wind or by the camper tripping over the peg or the line during hours of darkness.
All tents utilize some sort of a pole structure which, when assembled, forms a skeleton upon which the fabric covering may be suspended or supported. The pole structure also may be supported by a plurality of guy lines even in advanced designs in the manner of the more rudimentary tents. Furthermore, all tents include some means to anchor the tent to the terrain. Such anchor means may be pegs or guy lines and pegs.
Some tents use bowed arches which overlap one another. Some of these tents place the arches on an angular orientation to the ground and further place the cover or wall under tension. It has been found that the pointed arch commonly called the Gothic or lancet arch is stronger than the presently used round or bowed arch when made of flexible tubing. This has been made possible in part by use of a rigid fitting interconnecting the two legs of the arch.
Certain tents are able to eliminate the guy line structure entirely and depend generally upon tension within the pole structure. The tension is usually provided by bending the poles while suspending the tent from some sort of an upstanding fabric web or the like through which the bent pole is passed. In such an arrangement the so called "fly" is usually a separate entity so that the fly may be positioned above and resting on the upstanding webs.
The "fly" is the waterproof member thus avoiding condensate forming on the inner surface of the inner wall. Collected condensate on the inner wall is undesirable from many points of view. Initially it is uncomfortable to spend prolonged periods of time in a damp structure. In low temperature conditions the condensate may freeze and act to conduct heat out of the tent thus negating part of the advantages of a tent. When the tent is struck following a camping period, the condensate remains and a wet tent is packed in the backpackers pack. Although a waterproof "fly" may overcome some of these disadvantages, others remain.
The fly is advantageous in any tent and becomes almost a necessity in cold weather conditions wherein the additional insulation of the dead air space may be utilized. However, the fly structure in the conventional backpacking tent requires additional space and furthermore requires additional time to assemble since it is usually not integrally formed with the tent. Therefore it becomes a disadvantage which must be weighed by the camper in the decision on what to carry.
Ease of assembly is important to the backpacker and becomes of paramount importance in a cold mountain environment. In short, it is vital to be able to assemble a tent in the shortest possible time and with greatest ease. A mountain climber quite frequently cannot remove his mittens or gloves for prolonged periods for fear of frostbite, therefore a tent which may be assembled rapidly and preferably with the hands still encased in mittens or gloves is of prime value.
Many tents require the user to anchor the floor structure to the terrain through the use of pegs or the like during the assembly process. This can be a serious drawback in cold weather conditions. Therefore a tent which may take on its general structural shape during the assembly and installation of the various structural poles without the absolute necessity of anchoring the floor to the ground may be highly desirable. In such a structure, the user may assemble a tent, then temporarily anchor the tent to the terrain by placing his or her pack on the floor followed by positioning of additional anchors at the corners of the tent. Such anchors may be pegs or the like. Portability of the tent when assembled is a distinct advantage, in that the orientation of the tent may be rapidly changed under a changing weather condition since the structure of the tent is not violated when the anchoring devices are removed from the terrain.
In many presently available tents, the user is restricted in that he or she dare not lean against the structure of the tent in its assembled state. One reason for such a restriction is moisture or condensate on the inner wall of the tent. A more serious reason is the structural integrity of the tent may be threatened by a camper leaning against a wall and forcing the wall in a direction it is not designed to be stressed. The result may be a collapsed tent under less than good conditions. Thus the camper is restricted in most tent structures to sitting upright without leaning against the walls of the tent.
Ventilation in tents is important, and may be provided by an open door. However, open door type ventilation allows for ingress of insects such as mosquitoes, flies, and the like. Accordingly it is common to utilize insect netting in existing backpacking tents. One convenient way of providing insulation in a two man tent is through the use of insect netting at the front and back walls. Since one of the two of the front or back walls must be utilized as an entrance, the common method is to provide a waterproof flap and an insect net both formed in the outer structure of the tent. Thus when the occupant wishes to enter or leave the tent he generally must unfasten both the entrance flap and the mosquito netting or leave one or the other rolled up and out of use. This may prove inconvenient to the user.
It was these disadvantages found in the present tents that formed the basis for the invention of the present structure.